Don’t send Superman to do these Female Superhero’s jobs
President’s Advisor: “Mr. President, the threat has been neutralized.”
Wonder Woman (2009)
The President: “How?”
President’s Advisor: “It seems by a group of armored supermodels.”
It’s a tale as old as time, the brave hero charging forth to rescue a damsel in distress. But some dames aren’t holding out for a hero. They are one. So let’s find out who we chose as the top 5 female superheroes on screen.
Scene Select
#5 Jessica Jones
Played by Krysten Ritter
Jessica: “My greatest weakness? Occasionally, I give a damn.”
Jessica Jones, “Crush Syndrome” (season 1, episode 2)
Jessica Jones doesn’t seem like a hero at first glance. She’s a depressed, alcoholic detective with a nasty temper. But she refused to run away when Kilgrave, the man who had tortured her, returned. Jessica decided to stop him by any means necessary.
When she wasn’t hunting a mind controlling rapist, Jessica was helping one of her friends get off of drugs and trying to save another woman who Kilgrave had tormented. She even started Luke Cage on his path to becoming a hero.
Why Her?
Jessica Jones isn’t a superhero. She’s a woman who survived a superpowered rapist and wants to keep him from hurting anyone else. No need for truth, justice, and the American Way. She is a regular person who does heroic things.
#4 Female Superhero: Phoenix
Played by Famke Janssen and Sophie Turner
Jean: “I’m a telepath. I read minds.”
X-Men: Apocalypse
Scott: “Well, stay out of mine. I don’t need some weird girl creeping around in there.”
Jean: “Don’t worry, Scott. There’s not much to see.”
Jean Grey is arguably the most powerful mutant in the X-Men universe. She spent the first two movies providing exposition and getting into a love triangle with Wolverine and Cyclops. She went mad in the third movie and transformed into a villain called the Dark Phoenix. She later killed herself to save the world.
A younger version of Jean appeared in X-Men: Apocalypse played by Game of Thrones’ Sophie Turner. The movie ends with Jean transforming into Phoenix to save the world.
Why Her?
Jean died saving the world from herself. She has had an enormous impact in the X-Men movies and will be the first X-Woman to star in her own movie. Look out for Dark Phoenix in 2018.
#3 Catwoman
Played by Halle Berry, Anne Hathaway, and Michelle Pfeiffer
Catwoman: “About the whole “no guns” rule? I’m not sure I feel as strongly about it as you.”
The Dark Knight Rises
Catwoman is sometimes a villain, sometimes an anti-hero, but always one to watch. She holds her own with Batman despite having much less training. And she is a an expert cat-burglar.
Catwoman often winds up fighting alongside Batman before the movie is over. In The Dark Knight Rises, she even married Bats and retired.
Why her?
While Catwoman is interesting as a villain, she is an awesome character when a little good saunters in. That’s why the women most famous for playing her on film have a combined six Oscar nominations and two wins.
#2 Female Superhero: Wonder Woman
Played by Gal Gadot
Diana: “I’m going, Mother. ”
Wonder Woman (2017)
Queen Hippolyta: “If you choose to leave, you may never return.”
Diana: “Who would I be if I stayed?”
What can you say about Wonder Woman? She’s a founder of the Justice League, an Amazonian princess, and the quintessential superheroine. She would rank first if her film debut hadn’t been wasted in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Hell, most of her scenes with Batman are nearly identical to Catwoman’s scenes in the Dark Knight Rises. Curse you, Warner Brothers!
Why her?
Wonder Woman is a cornerstone of DC Comics and potentially the first good DC Extended Universe movie.
#1 Black Widow
Played by Scarlett Johannson
Black Widow: “Regimes fall every day. I tend not to weep over that, I’m Russian. Or I used to be.”
The Avengers
Our pick for the number one superheroine in movies is the Black Widow.
Black Widow started out as a supporting character in Iron Man 2 and has become one of Marvel’s most recognizable superheroes. Not bad for a character most people hadn’t heard of before the movies.
Black Widow has been a major player in the Avengers movies, humanizing the Hulk, stealing valuable information, and covering the Avengers’ collective back. It’s a shame Disney claims that a Black Widow movie would be too expensive to make.
So that’s our list. Who’s your favorite superheroine? Leave a comment. Try to keep it PG-13, ok?
Jared Bounacos has written for Movie Rewind since 2016.
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